Sighting device for guns.



APPLICATION FILED 0OT.5, 1911.

Patented July 23, 1912.

PELOPIDAS TSUKALAS, OF ATHENS, GREECE.

SIGHTING DEVICE FOR GUNS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1912.

Application filed October 1911. Serial No. 653,062.

y T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PELGPIDAS TsnKALAs, a subject of the King of Greece,residing at Athens, in the Kingdom of Greece, have invented new anduseful Improvements in Sighting Devices for Guns, of which the followingis a specification.

"The present invention relates to sighting devices for guns, used infiring againettz1rgets of varying distance; and the object of theinvention is to provide sights of this character whichtllllOlTlEltlCElll) adapt themselves to the change of the targetdistance. This object is attained according to this in vention, byinserting between that part of the sighting device that serves forsetting the firing to correspond to the distance and the guide for saidpart, a rhange gear that can be driven ly a motor of practically uniformspeed (a clockwork for instance), the ratio oi transmission of whichchange gear is so adjusted by hand to correspond with the speed of thetarget referred to upon the. direction of tire, that. the part servingto adjust th tiring angle is automativrally adjusted an amountcorrespondin to the, change of target di tanee when the change q'eurisbeing driven by the motor.

()ne illustrative embodiment of the invention is Shown in theaeeompairv'ing drawing in which:

l igure 1 is a rear View, partly in section of an atta hment. sighting);devirc together with parts of the gun that have to he uon' sidert-d iii(-onnection therewith: Fig. a side view of Fig. l seen from the left.and, Fig. 2 a Seetiou of Fig. l on line ---3, ritllil from the ri lit.

The gun barrel A is in the usual manner carried in a cradle ii, on whicha bracket (J is lirmly allavhed. near the breech "lid ot the. gun. Uponthis arm is arranged a guide I" constituting; the atlaehmeul housing forthe untualely vurved zllliH'llllHllt liar l-l which itil'l'ltF, atrlesvope ll. By means of a hand wheel f and a pinion l both carried bythe allarhmeul housing w" and raelc teeth (I' on the :illlllllllillllliar l lwith \\lll(ll said pinion meshes, he latter may be adjusted byhand lo the elevation that veoiiesimnds to ill! H\ 't'l'l.lil:!(ldistance. The tooth gear l w need have no automatic (alt-h, A clamp wrewll (:Hl'ltll by the a turbulent housing 0, is provided for clamping theattachment bar. A'range-scale a (Fig. 1) on the bar E and an index mark0 on the sleeve guide 0 enables the reading of the range.

For automatic setting of the sight for targets with varying range, a camgear has been provided driven by a motor (as for instance a clockwork)of which the following is a description.

A drum G, with a cam surface 9 is seated on a shaft H, at right anglesto the gun axis; said shaft H being; mounted to turn in its hearings inthe sleeve housing a and the arm ("'1 A. motor {a clockwork forinstance) is innloeed in a easing c on the arm 0' adapted to drive thedrum in the direct-ion ot' the arrow .w, Figs: and 3, with aeoi'nparat-ively small uuilorin angular speed. A vsuitable zapeed is:for inetance one turn of the shaft in twelve minute. To transmit theturning movemeiit. of the shaft H to the drum (l. which latter runsloose on the shaft, a claw-coupling is provided, of which one half 11.is firmly Connected with the shaft H, and the other half formed by thehub of the drum. A Spring J, Fig. 1,, ix pushing the two halves of thecoupling; together.

()uly that part of the ram surtave that. lit. n the outer side of theannular space it 1 Fig. 3. ix utilized for automatically setting thesight for a target of varying dislance. Said part of the ram surface hasbeen given such a shape that a section taken in the middle of the drum(l and perpendicular to it1 revolving axis will cut it along thet'll'kli line g Fig. 1. the renter of which is v\ iluated in therevolving axis of the drum: while all the oth r parallel sections ot'lhedrum are ineloncd' by Archimedic spirals Haid spirale on the one Side ofthe middle section of the drum inelosed by circle 1 ronverge toward therevolving llXlS Ol the drum: they on the other Side of said middlesection diverge from the same axis.

\ll. of the curves 1, .start from a line parallel wvith the revolvingaxis of the drum in a plane y u, siluat d in the unused part of theangular spare llltlllrilll fl' lheiam surl'rur y, the projei-lion ofsaid line being a point y" in Fig.3. 'lhe curves are all brought back instraight linei: to their start A ing points on the inner side of theangular space M y 2.

.The member adapted to cooperate with the drum G in the said cam gearconsists of an arm P, resting with its spherical head f, situated at itsfree end, on the cam sur face 9 At its other end this arm is carried toslide-parallel with the axis of the drum, in a sidewise projectingsleeve k of a slide K, which loosely incloses the sight rack E and maybe clamped thereto by a thumbscrew M.v By means of an adjusting screw Nmounted in the sleeve 10 the arm P may be so adjusted that it cancofiperate with any one of the curves of the cam surface 9 The head 79of the arm P is constantly drawn down against the cam face g of theilrrum G by means of two helical springs Q,

V hen the slide K is clamped to the bar E by the clamp screw M, and thearm P is. so adjusted through the adjusting screw N;, that it cancooperate with one of the spirals g", the sight rack E must, through theturning of the drum G, move up or down with a practically uniform. speedin consequence of the properties of the Archimedic spiral, according asthe arm P moves closer to, or away from the axis of the drum G, thetangent point of the arm P following one of the spirals as the drumturns.

By the choice of suit-able constants for the spirals g and by adjustingthe arm P, it is easy to obtain a movement of the sight bar adapted tothe speed with which the range changes, 2'. e. the speed of the targetreferred to the direction of fire. In other words, the sight bar is soset that when the speed of the target is constant, its position ateverymoment corresponds to the target distance. When the arm P is so adjusted-.that its spherical head 'p rests on the circular line 9 of the camsurface g, no change in,the position of the sight ar E will take placeby the rotation of the drum This positioi: of arm-P expresses thatparticular case, when the target distance is constant.

In the following description of the manner in which this device is to beoperated, we will suppose that the distance of the target is measured ona range finder at certain intervals. After the first observation, thesetting is done by hand .for a heightcorresponding with the observedtarget distance. The thumb screws M and R are for this purpose firstloosened. Then the sight bar, which is now free to run in the housing 0and the slide K, is elevated by turning the hand wheel f until the index0 points to the line on the scale e which corresponds to the observedrange. Now, in order to have the sight bar move automatically with thevarying range, one proceeds as follows. The thumb screw M is firsttightened so that the slide K is firmly connected with the sight bar E.The motor, coupled to the drum G, is then started, driving the drum withuniform speed in the direction of the arrow ac, Figs. 2 and 3. The arm Pis at the same time set over any desired curve of the drum G. Theturning of the drum G is transferred to the sight bar E, through the camdrive g P, in such a manner that the sight bar is elevated or depressedan amount corresponding with the movement of the arm P. The pinion F issimultaneously turned by the teeth (2 and partakes of the movement ofthe rack without interfering with the automatic setting of the sightrack. After the second reading of the range on the range-finder, the newfound range does as a rule not agree 0 In that case, it will be enoughto shift the arm P, along one of the meridians of the cam surface 9 byturning the adjusting screw N, until the sight rack E, which hereby runsin the housing 0 has arrived at tion of the range finder will show asmall difference between itself and the reading on scale e Thisdifference will be still further diminished by turning the adjustingscrew in the above-described manner. After each following rangeobservation, the same operation is repeated. Should the drum G from.continuous turning have arrived at such a position that the sphericalhead 77 of the arm P touches the drum'anear the idle part of the camsurfaceis limited by the legs of the anglefrui-g' z, the thumb screw Mhas to be loosenedand the sight rack E clamped by tightening thumb screwR. Thereupon the coupling 71. g is released and the drum G revolved sofar in the direction of the arrow a: around the shaft H,

with the one indicated on the scale e bythe index that the sphericalhead again touches the operating part of the cam face. After thecoupling between-the drum G and the shaft H has again been put inaction, and the thumb screw M tightened, the thumb screw R is loosenedand the sight bar E will again be automatically elevated with the samespeed as before.

It will be evident from the above description that the sighting deviceforming the subject of this invention is suitable for firing against amoving target (from a stationary or moving gun mount); but may beequally well applied for firing at stationary targets from a movable gunmount (as for instance on board ship).

I claim z 1. In a gun sighting device for guns tor firing at targetswith varying range, the combination with a member used for setting thesight at a firing angle corresponding to the range, and a guide for saidmember; of a change gear having a revol ing cam drum inserted betweensaid member and said guide, and a motor for driving the gear at auniform speed.

2. In a gun sighting device for guns for firing at targets with varyingrange, the combination with a member used for setting the sight at afiring angle corresponding to the range, and a. guide for said member;of a change gear having a revolving cam drum inserted between saidmember and said guide, and a motor for driving the gear at a uniformspeed, said gear when driven by the motor and after having beenregulated by hand for a ratio of transmission depending on the speed ofthe target as regards the firing direction, being adapted to automati-Cally operate said member to follow the change of the range.

In a sighting device for guns for firing at targets with varying range,the combination with a bar used for setting the sight at a firing anglecorresponding to the range and a guide for said bar; of a slide on saidbar adapted to be firmly secured thereon,

a cam drive, comprising a drum revolubly mounted in bearings on saidguidi and an arm resting with its free end on the cam surface of saiddrum, and its other end slidahly mounted in said slide in a directionparallel with the axis of the drum.

-1 In a gun sighting device, the combination with a sight elevating barand a guide for said bar: of a slide on the bar. a clamp ing devicebetween the slide and the bar: a cam drive for said elevating bar and amotor operatin said cam drive tor the purpose o't auton'iaticallyvarying the sight elc vation in accordance with the variation in range,said cam drive comprising a rcvolnble drum mounted on said guide, an armresting with its free end on the cam suriace of the drum, and its otherend mounted in said slide and an adjusting screw for regu' lating byhand in the direction of the. axis of the drum, the position of said armrelative to the drum.

5. In a gun sighting device, the combination with a sight elevating barand a guide for said bar; of a slide on the bar, a clamping devicebetween the slide and the ha]; a cam drive for said elevating bar and amotor operating said cam drive for the purpose of automatically varyingthe sight elevation in accordance with the variation in range, said camdrive comprising a revoluble drum mounted on said guide, an arm restingwith its free end on the cam surface of the drum, and its other endmounted in said slide and an adjusting screw for regulating by hand inthe direction of the axis of the drum the position of said arm relativeto the drum, the middle cross section of said drum having a circularoutline, concentric with the drum axis, the other parallel crosssections all having outlines formed by increasing Archimedic spirals onone side of the middle section and decreasing ones on the other.

6. In a gun sighting device, the combination with a sight elevating barand a guide for said bar; of a slide on the bar; a clamping devicebetween the slide and the bar:

a cam drive for said elevating bar and a motor operating said cam drivetor the purpose of automatically varying the sight elevation inaccordance with the variation in range, and a releasable clutch,normally in engagement, between said motor and said cam drive.

7. In a gun sighting device for guns firing at targets with varyingrange, the conr bination with a member used for setting the sight at atiring angle corresponding to the range; of a motor running with uniformspeed for driving said member: a change gear inserted between the motorand said member, said change gear comprising a revolving drum and an armresting with its free end on the cam surface f said drum; and means fordisplacing the arm and the drum relatively to each other in the ("r 0-tion of the axis of said revolving diiu whereby to adjust said changegear o" ratio of transmission depending on the speed of the target asregards the fil'llh; direction.

In testimony whereof I have attixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

PELOPIDAS TSUKALA \Vitnesses:

C, M. CoRArA, M. G, COHAIA.

